Okinawa mochi, pt.3: Nantu ナントゥー餅

Okinawa has some unique mochi sweets. These are made differently than Japan mainland mochi; the feeling of eating Okinawa mochi is unique, and I think even mainland Japanese are surprised at the different mochi here.

I wrote previous post on muuchii ムーチー, a type of mochi wrapped in shell ginger leaves.

Now I will introduce nantu (nantou) ナントゥー. This is a type of mochi made with miso! It also has brown sugar and peanut paste in it. Yum. It is often made with jimami (じーまーみ or じーまみ, meaning “island peanut”) and covered in sesame seeds. There is a variation using purple sweet potato or taro (called taanmu in uchinaaguchi), as well. It looks simple, but somehow nostalgic I think. These are sold all over the island at mochi shops, grocery stores, and farmers markets… be sure to look for them here in Okinawa!